Deaths Leave Hole In A Community That's Also Family

MARCI SHATZMAN ADULT COMMUNITIES

April 8, 2007|MARCI SHATZMAN ADULT COMMUNITIES

Linda Lenner knew something was terribly wrong at her neighbors Sue and Ira Steuerman's house in Valencia Lakes.

The newspaper was still in their driveway Sunday morning when she walked her dog at 9:30. Two hours later it was still there, and the coach lights were on. They never left the lights on all night in 10 years, she said.

Her worst fears were confirmed when a Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputy drove up, looking for next of kin.

It turned out the couple was killed March 31 in a car crash at El Clair Ranch and Flavor Pic roads west of Boynton Beach, on their way home from dinner with friends from Boca Raton.

"I almost fainted in the driveway," Linda said.

Three days later, their crowd gathered in Barbara Fried's house to talk about the gregarious couple in their 60s who would have left in May for their other home in Queens, N.Y., where their funeral was held on Friday. Three of them planned to attend.

A rash of fatal accidents involving residents of Venetian Isles, Indian Spring Country Club and now Valencia Lakes have had a ripple effect in the adult communities.

Thrown together in a new place as retirees, Sue and Ira's group is typical. Ten years ago, the men met through golf, and introduced their wives, or the women met through cards and tennis. They've spent all their time together, and the friendships have morphed into more like family.

"She was an only child, but she had us," Bunny Garbowitz said.

Their crowd had a luncheon every month for everyone's birthday and often vacationed together. "We got together for all the holidays, because our families are all up north. So, we made ourselves a family," Pat Blumberg said.

The Steuermans were supposed to go to Bernice and Ken Tillman's for first Seder, but they never made it.

Sue and Ira stood out in Valencia Lakes, because he was well over 6 feet tall and she was 4 foot 11, their friends said. A former marathon runner, he was a good golfer and belonged to nearby Indian Spring Country Club. She loved to shop. They were grandparents. Sue was active in the Lake's Papanicolaou Corps for Cancer Research.

Ken described the community as "devastated" when a notice went up in the clubhouse and the news spread.

Arlene Greene said the couple had friends in Valencia Falls, Boca Grove, and she got a call from someone who knew them in Venetian Isles. She plans a memorial service and wants to ask the Valencia Lakes board to have two benches made with their names on it.

The friends are angry about the crash, especially because there is no traffic light at that intersection, an issue in two fatal crashes outside Venetian Isles, which has a light now.

Authorities said the investigation into this crash could takes months, and the Attorney General's Office will decide whether or not to bring charges against the 17-year-old driver.

But that won't bring Sue and Ira Steuerman back.

"My brain won't function to accept it," Barbara said.

Marci Shatzman writes about the adult communities west of Boca Raton, Delray Beach, Boynton Beach and Lake Worth, and in Wellington. Her column appears every Sunday in Community News. You can reach her at granddame@adelphia.net.